Dogs & Red Scarves
by AzuraJae
Summary: [AU] After returning home from school one day, Sasha saves a red scarf girl from a hit-and-run accident, but dies in the process. She later awakens, having been transformed into a dog. She meets up with the girl again and together, they find out about the dark truth about the accident and fix the broken hearts that Sasha has left behind. Inspired by InuHasa.
1. Chapter 1 - Woof Woof Car

Hi there! Glad you wanted to read my Fic :D

A note for all those people who got triggered somehow by the summary or such,  
Also, I don't promote bestiality or anything like that, but I really liked the plot of Dogs &amp; Scissors, which is an anime/light novel series about something fairly similar to this.

I should stop babbling, Now go ahead, read the story~

* * *

**Chapter 1: Woof Woof...Car!**

Sasha made her way briskly towards the darkened part of the street. It was probably a mistake to eat in class. It wasn't her fault that lunch wasn't long enough for her to eat her fill. It was only natural that she pulled out a bag of chips and began to eat them right? Only natural. She would much prefer to go home and get some real food, but of course, no going against sneaking out of detention, especially with Mr. Levi as the detention supervisor.

So now here she was, in the dead of night. She waited patiently at the empty crossing, waiting for the green light to pop up to signal that it was okay to cross. Sasha glanced both ways. No cars around, she could probably run across and come out quite alright, but better safe than sorry right?

The brunette jumped when she heard footsteps beside her. Turning her head, she saw a girl, maybe around her age, with a rather noticeable petite red scarf, solemnly engrossed on reading something on her phone. Sasha felt a little nervous to be around anyone outside this late at night, but the girl didn't seem too bad. She certainly did not look like a robber or anything, yet appearances can always be deceiving. Even so, Sasha allowed herself not to be so tense. Perhaps it was a little nice to have some company, even if it wasn't particularly friendly.

It seemed like forever before the light blinked green. The girl had walked ahead and Sasha followed, but had halted due to the screeching of towards somewhere ahead. Peering through the darkness, she noticed a car's headlights, coming closer at an alarming rate. Her first instinctive was the leap back in the safety of the sidewalk, but the girl with the red scarf was still walking down the road, unaware of the car that was making their way to her.

"Hey! There's a car approaching!" Sasha shouted. The girl failed to respond, even as the headlights blared at her. Gritting her teeth, Sasha sprinted towards the seemingly unsuspecting girl. There was no way she was going to lose someone to the wheels of a car again. "Watch out!"

Sasha roughly tackled the girl, dropping her school bag in the process. The girl landed on the sidewalk, sprawled on the ground looking rather confused, but still retaining her solemn expression. Relieved that the girl was safe, the brunette soon realized that she instead had put herself in danger. Sasha only turned her head enough to meet the head of the car.

The brunette didn't really know what happened next only that it hurt like a butt. She remembered feeling her side rip open and the smell of blood and burnt tire in the air. Sasha remembered something ringing in her ears as she felt herself painstakingly stopping her breathing for some reason. Perhaps she felt someone trying to shake her awake. It took a moment for Sasha to realize that she was dying. Sasha had figured that she probably the sheer force of being hit by a speeding car should have killed her instantly, but somehow she had managed to survive, at least for the moment.

A pulse of fear engulfed her and Sasha realized that she didn't really want to die, at least not yet. There was still so much to live for! What would her father think? After losing his wife, he would lose his only daughter too. What about her best friend, Connie? What would he do after finding out his childhood friend died? He would probably feel sick realizing that detention together was the last time they would ever meet. What about her teachers? Would Mr. Levi feel guilty for somehow causing her early death? What about…

The thoughts swarmed her head like bees as she began to feel the pain ebb away. Yup, she was efinitely dying.

But she saved someone right? The girl with the red scarf, she was undoubtedly alive. Sasha remembered she had tackled her onto the sidewalk, but even so she felt unease in her dying heart. Perhaps she felt like crying. I mean, why wouldn't she? She was dying after all, everything she had done in life was for nothing. Her dream? Probably unachievable now. The prospect of marrying and having kids? Scratch that. But at least, she had managed to save someone else's life, right?

And so with that fading thought, Sasha allowed the warm feeling envelop her as she died.

* * *

_Not your time yet._

Sasha jerked awake, surprised that she was alive. She thought she died, but apparently she pulled through right? She looked around, feeling a little drowsy. How long was she asleep? In fact, where was she? Sasha soon identified herself to be in some sort of dark alley. Why was she here, anyway?

Feeling confused, Sasha pulled herself to her paws. Wait a minute…paws? She looked down at the ground where her feet should be, but instead of seeing human feet, she saw paws. Furry paws. Was someone playing a trick on her? Was she in the afterlife? Otherwise what other reason was she a dog.

She jumped to her paws in panic, running out of the alley, tripping over trash that was strewn across the alley. Making it to the opening of the alley, Sasha found herself in some part of the neighborhood. Then she realized it was the same neighborhood. _Her hometown. _Sasha then proceeded to howl and bark, pacing back and forth, feeling sick. She was sure that she was scaring everyone who was walking around, this was abnormal behavior for a dog after all. She had paced around barking until she had gotten the attention of probably half the neighborhood.

And so that's how she ended up in the dog pound, or 'dog prison' she liked to call it. She was put in a cage, with a bowl of water and that's where she stayed. There were some occasions where Sasha was let out to stretch her legs with a leash, but nonetheless, she spent most of her time, cramped in her cage, waiting for the possibility of being adopted, not that she had any chance. There were dozens of other dogs, much cuter and attractive than she was. She was a scraggly mutt picked off the street; it was highly unlikely that she would ever be adopted. Eventually, she had gotten used to this new lifestyle, although not particularly enjoying it. Probably the worst part of this 'second life', was the food. Dog food was bland, never tasted good. Even though it had the slight tang of meat or vegetables, it was horrid. Life had become less than satisfactory, yet at least she was living right?

Going into the second week in dog prison, Sasha had confirmed that she had died in a car accident, a hit-and-run accident to be exact. She had overheard one of the caretakers talking about how a brunette girl bravely saved another girl from being hit, but had been fatally injured in the process. Even though the girl had tried her best to keep her alive and had called the paramedics, Sasha soon died from blood loss and internal bleeding. Even though she had gotten over her death after the first few days in the dog pound, hearing the detailed conversation of how she died, Sasha couldn't help, but feel sick.

Being in her cell all the time, she had a lot of time to think. Sasha often wondered what had happened with her friends and family after her death. Her father would be devastated his only child was dead. How would Connie finish his group project with his partner dead? Not only was guilt crowding her thoughts, but the constant feeling of loneliness and emptiness resided in her heart. Even though they many dogs that she could try talk to, the dogs in neighboring cages were too simple minded to engage in any serious talking a human could do. Too hyperactive and simple-minded, Sasha tried her best to ignore all the senseless chatter that crowded the pound 24/7. So most of the time, she just laid idly in her cage, waiting for something to happen.

It wasn't until the 3rd week at the pound did Sasha finally got the relief she deserved.

* * *

The pound was unnaturally quiet today. Despite the fact that there was at least a thirty or more dogs, even the most ambitious noisy dogs were abnormally quiet today. The eerie silence was somehow peaceful, but somewhat disturbing. Sasha had asked the neighboring dogs next to her cell what was going on, but the merely shook their heads and patiently looked at the door.

Sometime in the late afternoon, Sasha had fallen into a light snooze, though was startled awake by someone walking down the aisle between the dog cages. Peering through the mesh of wire that kept her in, Sasha noticed a rather pretty young girl with a bright red scarf marching solemnly down the aisle, looking rather grim. A flustered employee watched helplessly as the girl took each time to stare at each dog. Each time, a dog made eye contact, it shirked back, whimpering.

"M'am, you're scaring the dogs." The employee said, looking nervously at the whimpering dogs.

The girl ignored the employee and continued about her strange business. After a good five minutes, the girl stopped in front of Sasha's cell. Warm black eyes stared at her, but unlike the other dogs, she did not really feel the need to cower in fear. Instead, Sasha stared back with her unnatural honey-glazed eyes. After a moment, the girl turned to the employee who was standing awkwardly a ways, looking extremely uneasy.

"Can you open the cage?" she said rather bluntly. "I would like to see this dog."

"U-uh, of course!" he stammered before shuffling over and opening the cage.

The employee leaned over, clipping a leash to Sasha's collar. Sasha could obediently allow herself to follow the leash and then sat in front of the strange girl. Even though she felt rather uneasy without the cage to protect her, it was nice being out of the stuffy cage. The dark-haired girl crouched down, so now she was an eye-level with Sasha. She blinked at her and so Sasha blinked back.

"Are you the one?" she asked, reaching out to pat Sasha on the head. In response to her question Sasha wrinkled her nose and snorted.

_What on earth are you talking about?_ Sasha barked softly back.

She was quite aware of the fact that the girl probably won't understand her, but natural human response would be to ask this question. Hearing the girl gasp, Sasha tilted her head, feeling fairly confused. The red scarf girl stood up and faced the employee who seemed really sweaty and nervous all of a sudden.

"I will take this dog." She ordered sternly.

"O-o-of course!" he stammered, fiddling with Sasha's leash. "Just c-c-ome this way and I'll get the adoption p-p-papers ready for you."

Supposedly, Sasha would be happy that she won't be stuck in this dog prison any longer, but to be honest, she was more curious about this mysterious, yet familiar, red scarf girl. Sasha waited patiently as she finished writing the adoption papers, trying to figure out where she had seen this girl before. When she was done, she handed the papers to the receptionist who quickly looked it over.

"Are you sure you want this dog?" the receptionist asked, looking down at Sasha. "Apparently she was a dog on the street, so we don't have any birth records or certificates for her. Perhaps it would be better to adopt one of our purebred shepherds?"

_Hey! _Sasha barked loudly, making the receptionist jump. _I think that was an insult._

"No." the red scarf girl said firmly and almost menacingly glared at the receptionist, who seemed a little spooked that seemingly the dog somehow understood her. "It has to be this dog."

"Alright, honey, just let me file these in." she said, typing something in her computer. Then she looked at the girl who seemed impatient. "You left it blank for the dog's name."

"I'll decide on a name later." She said briskly. The girl impatiently tapped her foot on the ground. "Is there anything else?"

"You will receive a free leash, ID collar, dog water and food bowl for having adopted one of our shelter dogs." , informed the receptionist as she gestured to the readily prepared bag with the label 'Doggie Bag' printed on one side sitting on one of the chairs near the entrance of the building. "Hold on, let me call one of our boys to switch to your leash…"

"She doesn't need a leash." The Red scarf girl said, walking over to take the bag before leaning over and unclipping Sasha so now she was technically free. The dark-haired girl turned towards Sasha, staring intently. "You'll follow me right?"

_As if I had anywhere else to go._ Sasha thought, trying her best to roll her eyes at her.

"Are you sure?" the receptionist asked, looking rather skeptical. "Only obedient dogs may walk without leashes. We aren't responsible if it runs away as soon as the doors open."

"I'm sure." The girl said firmly, glaring at the receptionist. Then turned to Sasha and added, as if to make sure. "Right?"

_Whatever you say, owner._ sniffed Sasha, feeling her paws itch with excitement and curiosity.

Before the receptionist could respond, the red scarf girl marched out of the building, with the bag in hand. The red scarf girl beckoned for Sasha to follow and the shepherd obediently trotted after her. The receptionist looked in awe as the girl and her new dog disappeared from sight.

For a while, the girl and the dog walked in silence. Sasha felt relieved to walk without being restraint by a leash or such, so she enjoyed the walk. Often times, Sasha stole glances at the red scarf girl as they walked, wondering why she had to single her out from all the other dogs. Coming to a point where they crossed the street, Sasha sat down and nervously watched the passing cars while awaiting for the green light.

"My name is Mikasa Ackerman by the way." The red scarf girl suddenly said, looking down at her. Sasha looked back, wagging her tail.

_So you're Mikasa Ackerman…_thought Sasha, twitching her ears and turned to look at the blinking red light. _That's a nice name, I suppose…_

"We'll talk more when we get home." Mikasa smiled as the red light finally blinked to green.

Sasha padded after Mikasa into the large apartment on the 8th floor. The apartment was pretty large and quite fancy. The shepherd started to suspect that she had been adopted by a wealthy family.

"Eren, Armin, I'm home." Mikasa called out into the empty apartment.

Sasha's ear twitched as he heard a thump and a thin, lanky teenager stumbled out of a room to meet them. The boy was average looking, but had extraordinarily strong green eyes accompanied by a messy wad of ashy-brown hair. A moment later, a short young blonde boy walked out of another room, holding a book.

"Hey Mikasa- woah what do you have there?" Eren asked, looking at Sasha, who blinked back.

"A German Shepherd!" exclaimed Armin, walking over to Sasha and petting her on the head. Sasha wagged his tail in response. "I knew you wanted to get a dog, but I didn't expect so soon!"

"That's a big dog." commented Eren, who warily approached Sasha from a distance.

"Relax, she won't bite." Mikasa said, putting the doggie back on a table top.

"What's her name?" Armin asked excitedly, switching from patting her head to scratching her under the chin.

"I'll decide later." Mikasa said, taking off her boots by the door.

While Armin was trying convincing Eren to take a closer look at 'Mikasa's new dog', Sasha took a good look at her surroundings. Apparently she was in the living room, with one side morphing into a kitchen at one point. Walking around the mess of furniture that seemed oddly placed in the apartment, Mikasa made her way to a room on the far side of the living room.

"Come here, girl." The dark-haired girl called. Sasha instantly turned her head to her, perking her ears, before making her way through the clump of badly placed furniture to Mikasa's side.

"She's really obedient!" Armin noted, looking rather surprised.

"I think her name should be Titan." Eren said. "She's really big so, it's like she's a titan."

"Maybe." Mikasa said, opening the door and gesturing Sasha to go in, which she did. "I'm going to shower and then to bed, you guy should too."

"Alright, good night, Mikasa, Eren." Armin said, waving to the dark-haired girl. "Good night to you too, doggie!"

"Yea, good night." Eren added.

Hearing that they acknowledged her, Sasha barked a good night in response, even though she knew fairly well that they wouldn't understand her anyway. It was nice, maybe she would like it here.

Mikasa's room was very spacious. It was decorated with beautiful drawings hanged on the wall while a mess of books were stacked in a shelf near a window. Her bed was large, fluffy and comfortable-looking.

"You can sit over there on the blanket on the floor." Mikasa said, pointing to a fluffy bed that had a light brown blanket tucked in. "I'm going to take a shower first, okay?"

_Yea, sure…_barked Sasha, sauntering over to the bed. She instinctively sniffed the bed first before choosing a nice position and sitting down. _That reminds me, I feel like I need a bath myself._

"You can take a bath tomorrow." Mikasa said, as if she was reading her mind. "But for now, it's okay right?"

Sasha tilted her head, surprised that Mikasa had somehow read her mind and watched as her new owner disappeared in what she supposed was the shower. Resting her nose on her paws, Sasha observed the room. There was a large photo of Mikasa and the two boys in apartment hanging above the bed. Even though both the boys were happy and smiling, Mikasa had this solemn look on her face. Looking at the nightstand, there was another photo, but this time with a man, a woman, and what looked like young Mikasa.

_Must be her parents._ thought Sasha. _I don't sense or smell anyone else here in the apartment…I wonder where they are._

Deciding that she would probably find out the longer she lived with Mikasa, Sasha decided to focus her thoughts at the matter at hand. Not only did Mikasa seemed to single her out of all the other dogs, but did seem like Mikasa could understand her. It was ridiculous unless Mikasa knew how to speak to dogs, which she clearly didn't because she didn't talk to any dog, but her. Whining in confusion and probably stress, Sasha stretched out on her side, watching and waiting for Mikasa to come out of the bathroom.

There was a good 30 minutes before Mikasa finally came out in what appeared to be her night shirt and pants. Surprisingly, she was still wearing the red scarf, which Sasha found to be quite odd, considering it wasn't winter or anything. Sasha watched her owner as she went to dry her hair at the vanity desk that sat nearby. After another 15 minutes of just silence and the buzzing of the hairdryer, Mikasa sighed looked at Sasha.

"I finally found you." She said softly. Sasha tilted her head when she noticed that Mikasa looked extremely relived. "It took three weeks, but I finally found you."

_Please start making sense._ Sasha pleaded silently. _You're making my head hurt. And how can you understand me anyway?_

"I know this may come as a surprise, but I can totally understand what you're saying." Mikasa explained.

_What? S-s-so all this time, you knew what I was saying? _Sasha barked, jumping on her paws. Maybe she wasn't so alone after all. _Can you hear me now? _

"Yes, I can hear you just fine. " Mikasa said. "I can hear you as long as you direct your thoughts at me, so there's no need to bark."

_So if I think like this, will you understand? _Sasha said, wagging her tail. _This is so awesome! I thought…after all this time…_

"Wait a second…." She suddenly said, getting up from the vanity desk.

She went to her nightstand and opened a drawer. After rummaging in it, she took out a piece of paper and then went to Sasha, who was now bouncing excitedly around the room. Mikasa crouched down and called Sasha over. The dark-haired girl lifted the paper to her face and Sasha's eyes widened.

Sasha looked at the happy brunette that was munching on a potato, grinning at the camera. Next to the brunette there was a young boy with a buzz-cut made funny faces at the screen, appearing to be laughing. What surprised her more was the brunette who was grinning at the camera, remnants of the potato around her mouth. There was just no way…no way at all.

_Connie?_ Sasha stammered in her head_. And t-t-that's…_

"I had to search for it, but I found this picture on Facebook." Mikasa said. Then she pointed at the brunette. "But this is you, correct?"

* * *

Pretty long for a usual first chapter :U  
I just wanted to set up everything right so it ended up a bit long. Unlike my other FanFic, Flustert in the Dark (only on AO3), I posted this as soon as I finished Chapter 1, so this might take longer to update.

Also actually, I don't really ship MikaSasha that much compared to Springles and JeanSasha, but I think they're relationship is really cute and I thought, hey why not? I enjoyed writing this and I hope you guys enjoyed just as much reading it! Hopefully you'll be interested reading the next chapter :3

Anyways, until next time!  
Jae


	2. Chapter 2 - My name is Titan

**A/N: **I'm going to be honest, I don't really like FanFiction dot net. The whole uploading process is a bit cringey and troublesome. So all of you waiting patiently for a chapter _here _then I'm going to have to apologize. I've actually updated up to chapter _five _on Archive on Our Own. I'll be doing my best to continue to update here, but I can't make any promises. The plus is, I'm going to make the FanFiction dot net a little bit more exclusive content here. Better grammar and a few additional dialogue, how nice :D

Minor Note: _Italics mean Sasha is speaking. _**\- WINGS OF FREEDOM - **is a section divider.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own crap.

* * *

_T-t-that's me..._ confirmed Sasha, flattening her ears. _How did you…_

If she could cry, she would have definitely broken down crying. Dogs couldn't cry, at least in the way humans do emotionally. Sasha could only feel the pain, but could not express it. Feeling her heart burn, she whined before dropping down on her belly, hiding her nose under her paws. The emotions were overwhelming. Seeing her upset, Mikasa began to rub in between her ears.

"Do you remember the accident you were in?" Mikasa asked, pulling up her scarf so most of her face was hidden..

_What about it? _Sasha asked, her voice quiet in Mikasa's mind. She still had her nose under her paws.. _Did you read it on the news?_

"Actually…"Mikasa's voice trailed off. "Do you remember who you saved?"

_Not really. _Sasha responded, pulling up her head to look at Mikasa. _Everything about it sorta blurry. Like a bad dream or something._

Mikasa tightened her hand into a fist and swallowed. "Could you try?"

_Sure...I guess. _Sasha squinted trying to rack her memory.

Although confused, Sasha thought back to the accident. Unfortunately, all the memories she had possessed when she was a human were blurry, difficult to remember. One could describe it as looking through stained glass. All faces and memories were jumbled up and distorted; sometimes even beyond recognition. She had trouble remembering her friend's faces, even Connie's. Heck, she couldn't even recall her father's face, which was the most troubling of it all. Sasha almost gave up, but seeing Mikasa's face, she just had to try a little harder. It was a dark-haired girl, right? She was pretty too…and wearing a red scarf. Flashing open her eyes, Sasha stared at Mikasa with disbelief in her eyes.

_It was you…_ Sasha said, eyes widening in disbelief. _I saved you…_

"Correct." Mikasa said quietly. It took a moment or two for Sasha to see why the dark haired girl was so upset.

_It's not your fault, Mikasa. _Sasha said sternly, pawing her arm, trying to get her to look at her face. _Don't beat yourself over the head with it._

"But you _died_." Sasha heard her muffle through her scarf. "Haven't you thought about it? Your life is over. All the things you planned to do are gone, because you had to save me."

_It was my choice, Mikasa. _Sasha barked, the real life noise startling Mikasa enough to look at her. Sasha couldn't help but growl a little as she told Mikasa the next few things. _I could have just allowed you to get hit, but for reasons I can't tell you now, I decided to help you. It's not your fault, it was my decision and I decided to go through with it. It's none of your concern whether or not I died or not._

Mikasa's face stayed the same as she stared back at Sasha, a rather stoic expressionless look that would probably make Mr. Levi nervous. A moment later, She closed her eyes and sighed tiredly. "I understand, Sasha Braus."

Sasha's ear's perked upon hearing her old name and she instinctively wagged her tail. No one had called her that in a long time. It was really nice having someone call her that after so long. The dog pound employees had called her different things like 'buddy' or 'honey' and things like that, but they never really had given her a proper name. It was nice, really really nice. Maybe there was still a chance as a human.

_You know my name. _Sasha barked, panting and wagging her tail.

"What kind of person would I be if I didn't know the name of the person who saved my life?" Mikasa said, a slight smirk creeping into her mouth. Then she frowned again, staring at Sasha with serious black eyes. There was a moment of silence. "Thank you, Sasha. For saving my life, I really mean it. I'm forever in your debt.

_Don't mention it. You kind of saved my life from living in the Dog Pound too. I guess I have to thank you for that. _Sasha tried to smile, but ended up making a rather strange face that Mikasa softly chuckled at.

There was a slight pause.

Mikasa looked thoughtful. "I don't think we should tell anyone about this."

_What? Me being turned into a dog? _Sasha said, habitually tilting her head.

"I don't think people would believe me." Mikasa said, standing up and walking towards her bed, sitting on the edge. Sasha obediently followed her. "Plus I don't know how your friends or family would react to you being a dog. I think it's best to keep it a secret for now."

_Okay. _Sasha said, nodding her head. Back at the pound, Sasha had wondered if someday someone would figure out she was Sasha and had wondered what might've happened then. She was excited by the idea, but it was just a facade of false hope, something to keep her going after the monotonic days stuck in the kennel. Now that she was out of the stuffy place, she realized it probably wasn't a very good idea …_But that means you can't call me Sasha._

"Why not?" Mikasa said, sending the dog a quizzical look. "There's dogs named Sasha in the world, I don't think it would be much a problem."

_As much as I want to be called by my old name, don't. _Sasha replied thoughtfully. _If we happen to meet anyone who knew Sasha Braus, I'm afraid you having recently have gotten a dog named Sasha, it would seem disrespectful. Even though you and I don't have a problem with it, _they_ might._

Mikasa blinked, seeming to be considering Sasha's words. "I see, good point." Mikasa fiddled with her red scarf. "What should I call you then?"

_Didn't your friend, Eren or something, suggest a name? _Sasha asked, padding to her own bed and sprawling out comfortably in the blankets.

The dark haired girl looked away. "He's not my friend, he's my brother." Mikasa corrected. "I believe he suggested the name, Titan."

_Your brother? _Sasha said, flattening her ears in apology. _Sorry, you don't look much alike._

"It's quite alright. We're foster siblings." Mikasa waved her hand, quickly dismissing the idea. "So what about the name?"

Sasha was tempted to try press further, curious mostly, but even if she didn't ask about it now, she would probably end up finding out later on. If she was going to spend the rest of her life with Mikasa, she was bound to find out. Plus, Sasha didn't feel all to good about asking it now. Here was a dark-haired angel with a red-scarf that saved her from the kennel. Even if Sasha saved her from that fateful accident, asking about Mikasa's past so soon didn't seem like a good idea. Instead, the dog brought her her attention to the name that Eren had suggested earlier.

_Titan is not bad. It has a nice ring to it. _Sasha said happily, wagging her tail. _So from now on, my name is Titan, not Sasha, okay?_

"Okay, Titan." A smile tugged Mikasa's lips.

There was a steely ring to the name Titan. Sasha supposed that a powerful name like that would suit a male Doberman or something, but she liked the idea of having that name. It made her seem that she was big and powerful. Well, she was a rather large dog already so it fitted nicely until a person finds out that she's actually a girl. Oh well, she has always been rather tomboyish anyway. Plus, it sounded far away enough from her real name that no one would suspect that she was the reincarnation of a dead girl. Feeling satisfied with that problem out of the way, Sasha decided that it _was _an appropriate time to ask how Mikasa managed to locate her.

_How did you find me?_ Sasha asked, resting her muzzle on top of Mikasa's lap. The girl responded by scratching the patch of fur on her nose. Sasha wagged her tail in response.

"A few days after you were killed, there was a funeral held." Sasha twitched her ear, but didn't say anything. "I wasn't formally invited, but I wanted to go because you were the one that saved my life after all." Mikasa said. She swallowed uncomfortably. "I got to meet all your friends. Some told me about how you were before you died and lamented that you died. Some of them seemed… really cross with me…"

Sasha growled, a bit to herself and a bit to those friends who were 'really cross'. It wasn't Mikasa's fault and she wished she could've told her friends her drastic decision.

_Don't beat yourself over that again. _Sasha said, snorting in contempt. _They may be angry, but remember I was the one who died, not them. If anyone should be angry, it should be me, but I'm not. Just continue._

"After the funeral, I started having this incredible heartache." Mikasa continued, acknowledging Sasha's request. "Perhaps it was guilt, but I feel that it was too painful to be normal. During my sleep, I started having dreams, flashes of the girl who saved me. Soon the girl was replaced by a dog. I tried to continue my life normally, but I kept hearing the faint barking and fractured thoughts." She looked a bit frustrated. "Eventually I figured out those were my savior's thoughts and barking; your thoughts and barking."

_So you went to find me._ Sasha concluded. She hadn't known that her frantic barking the first few weeks was actually heard by anyone. In fact, the dog hoped that Mikasa wasn't able to get anything coherent out of her thoughts. That would be embarassing. _You said earlier that it took three weeks for you to find me._

"Yes, sorry it took so long." Mikasa said, hanging her head slightly in apology. "I had spent time going to different shelters and pet stores, trying to find you. Today I finally pinpointed your whereabouts to Homes for Doggies, the name of the shelter you were in. When I heard you speak to me with your thoughts, I knew it was you."

_And to find me, you had to scare half the dogs at the kennel. _Sasha said, amused.

She shrugged. "I wasn't very good with dogs before." Mikasa replied sheepishly. "Every time a dog and I locked eyes, I would scare them away, though it never really happened with people. I figured that if I find the dog that isn't afraid of me, it'd be you, because you were still human. That and hearing your thoughts."

_That seems like a really unethical method for the other dogs if you ask me. _Sasha sniffed.

"Perhaps it was." The dark haired girl, lifted her hand to scratch Sasha's head. "But I don't really care. All I care is that I finally found you."

The girl and the dog stayed that position for a long time. Sasha locked eyes with Mikasa, wondering what she was thinking. Her face was firm, unreadable, with black eyes that seemed to threaten anyone who dare hurt anyone she loved. Sasha could only guess that she had been through a lot, especially the past month. There was really no other explanation for the reason why Mikasa looked and seemed like a rather cold person. Another thing that Sasha noted was that she was quite pretty, much prettier than an average girl Sasha has ever met. Sasha wondered what it would have been like if she had known Mikasa before her death. Yawning, Sasha began to close her eyes in fatigue.

"Let's go to sleep." Mikasa said, standing up, startling Sasha awake. "I like to sleep and wake up early."

_We'll be great friends then. _Sasha said. Strangely, she has always been a morning person, which Connie found utterly disgusting. There was a pang of pain in her heart as she remembered her friend. She wondered what he was doing now and whether or not he was thinking of her.

Walking to the side of her bed, where the light switch was located, Mikasa switched off the lights and instantly the room was enveloped in darkness. Sasha had her dog night vision, so she could see almost perfectly as she could in the light. Everything was very much the same. Something she noticed as a dog is that everything was a shade of blue and brown. Even though she could still remember colors like Red and Yellow from her distorted memory, she couldn't see them anymore. She hadn't known that dogs were _this _type of colorblind. Sasha had always assumed it was black and white. Despite her different perspective of vision, it felt _normal _enough that the canine didn't notice the difference. Her eyes quickly adjusted th the darkness and Sasha twitched her ears as Mikasa moved around in bed, the shuffling of sheets and pillows ringing in her ears.

_Hey, Mikasa?_

There was a slight paus. "What?"

_You can call me Sasha if we're alone or something….I like hearing my real name. Like maybe once in a while…I mean, if you want to of course._

There was an extended pause.

"Alright….Good night…Sasha."

Sasha smiled in her mind. She wondered if Mikasa could feel it too.

_Good night, Mikasa._

**\- WINGS OF FREEDOM - **

In the next few days, Sasha found herself to be quite content with her new life with Mikasa. The dog had been correct in her assumptions that she would find out about Mikasa's past when she started living here. Apparently, Mikasa, Eren, and Armin lived alone together after somehow all their parents had died in a series of unfortunate events. Currently, they were under custody of Armin's very distant, but fairly wealthy, Aunt. She had become their legal guardian after Eren's parents, presumably the ones who were last to pass away. Apparently, once a month or so, she would come to visit to check on them, but most of the time, the three were on their own. Armin's Aunt was a well known make-up artist and had to be out of the country very often. She couldn't scrounge much information about this supposed Aunt from Mikasa.

Armin has been extraordinarily friendly to her. The blonde seemed happy to have her around and never seemed intimidated by her at all. His cheery presence often made her happy too. At breakfast, lunch, and dinner times, Armin was awfully generous about sharing his meals with her. Mikasa had asked her politely not to beg for food because she felt that Armin and Eren were underweight as it is, but Sasha couldn't turn down an offer that _they _made. He would often times feeding her scraps of food to her, which happily accepted much to MIkasa's dismay. Sometimes, upon seeing her, Armin would call her name and ask her to come over. If she did, he would scratch her head until she got bored and walked away. If she didn't, he smiled anyway and would either continue doing what he doing or he would come to her to pet her. She also really liked sitting by his feet while he read stories. On occasion, he would actually read to her. Sasha could still read herself, but her lack of apposable thumbs made things like reading much more difficult; so having Armin read to her sometimes was an enjoyable passtime. Sometimes, when Mikasa and Eren disappeared somewhere, she and Armin would visit the coffee shop, where they would sit on one of the tables outside. She would lie down and sleep by Armin's feet while he studied or read books.

Eren on the other hand was a little bit harder to socialize with in her opinion. Although Eren seemed proud of the fact that he indirectly named her Titan, he seemed a little nervous to be around her, probably because she was a pretty big dog. Mikasa said that her adopted brother had a slight affinity towards large objects and creatures. The dark-haired scarf girl seemed upset when telling her this tidbit about information, so the German Shepard didn't ask. They rarely interacted much on a daily basis. However, on the weekends, Eren would go play on his Xbox or PS4. Sasha would sit on the couch next to him and would watch. To be quite honest, Sasha thought Eren was one of the worst gamers she had ever seen. She and Connie had played so many games in the past, she herself had become quite good at it. Gaming was a fun passtime that she was going to miss doing. Paws don't make for great substitutes for hands. Consoles were almost useless to her, except for chewing maybe, but Eren would never forgive her if she had chewed his PS4 console. Sasha knew how expensive it was and would sympathize if she had found it broken one day. The canine would just have to settle for watching Eren play. It was almost tiring a for her to watch Eren monotonically repeat the stages, but one things for sure, it was definitely funny seeing Eren raging. His determination usually pulled through and when he did finally complete a level, Sasha would celebrate with him.

Mikasa was the one Sasha found herself mostly hanging around with. Every morning, the two would wake up early and go for a light jog around the apartment. Jogging around the block was refreshing. For some reason, she seemed to be much more energetic as a canine. She could easily keep up with Mikasa without expending too much energy, so running around, even aimlessly, was a fun thing to doo. During the weekend, Mikasa would work on her homework, in which Sasha would often rest nearby watching TV, reading or browse the internet, with Mikasa's help though. Sasha still had to get used to doing stuff as a dog.. Something Sasha noticed was that Mikasa never seemed to take off her red scarf. She didn't know why and every time she tried asking her about it, the dark haired girl would shut her down, telling her that there will be a time and place for that. Sasha guessed it was connected to her past. The dog had overheard one time that Eren was the one who gave her it.

The food was definitely better. As it turns out, Mikasa was a pretty good cook. Although Sasha was sure that she could probably cook better when she was a human. Sometimes Sasha would throw in a tip or two to help make it taste better. Mikasa seemed irritated at first, but soon learned that Sasha knew what she was doing and that following her advise would lead to better meals for her 'family'.

"You know a lot of things about cooking." Mikasa whispered to her one day when she was preparing dinner.

_Yea…cooking was my hobby, you know, before... _Sasha said, sniffing the air. _Stew a bit more and add some more curry cubes. It smells like the curry is too watery__._

Mikasa nodded her head and followed Sasha's instructions exactly. She stirred the contents in the pot and added more curry cubes into the mix. Sasha had watched intently, feeling somewhat jealous that she was no longer able to cook. At least, she could teach and watch Mikasa how to cook. That was almost good right?

_I wanted to become a chef when I grew up. _Sasha reminisced. She had wanted so badly to become a worldwide Chef. She had the talent for it too, says everyone.

"I see…" A grim expression crept into Mikasa's face. Sasha stopped wagging her tail, fearful that she had something to upset her friend, but then the red scarf smiled and looked at the dog that lied down near her feet on the kitchen floor. "I bet you would've been a great cook, the best maybe."

_Thank you. _Sasha had said, wagging her tail. _I think I would've too._

Weekdays were the time that Sasha felt the loneliest. Mikasa, Eren, and Armin all had to go to school on the weekdays. Fortunately, she wasn't confined to the apartment by herself. Armin had installed a special chip in her collar that would open the automatic dog door, allowing her to go outside the apartment. At lunchtime, an automatic dog food dispenser would activate at a designated time. Even though the dog decided that she hated dog food, she was so hungry that she didn't mind it on the weekdays. Sometimes, Mikasa would mix a bit of leftovers into her food to make it more appetizing to her. Sasha was tall enough to push the buttons on the elevator by standing on her hind legs and with her paws, so she didn't have to worry about using the stairs. It was funny, riding an elevator with a dog, so she had become well known by other apartment residents as 'the dog that uses the elevator'. The thought of using the flight of stairs was exhausting to her, despite the fact that she had a lot of energy. The dog could go wherever she pleased, as long as she wore a collar to indicate that she had an owner. If she didn't, she would be confined to a kennel again until Mikasa came to go get her again, which the latter was not fond of doing. Because of her frequent appearances around the place, Sasha became quite popular around the neighborhood, especially with the kids who enjoy tugging her ears and tail. She loved to visit the elementary kid's school yard during lunchtime. Kids love giving her snacks and their teacher has gotten fond of her too.

Sasha would first follow the three to their school Wall Maria High (WMH for short) and waited at the gate of the school until they were out of sight. She had met many other students at their school, some of them calling her the new 'Hachiko', which she silently hoped that she wouldn't end up having the same fate as him. During school hours, Sasha wandered about the neighborhood, exploring new areas, meeting the people. Mikasa's neighborhood was considerably wealthier and rather nice looking. She had considered traveling back to her former house and to her own school, but she figured that it was too far from where she lived now and that she wasn't sure how her emotions are going to react to seeing her old life in person. Plus, in her heart, she wanted to leave all that behind, but she knew that one day, Sasha would have to confront everything about her past. There _was _a reason why she came back right? She decided that she would go try to interact with her old life as soon as she felt ready and strong enough. At three in the late afternoon, when her owner's school ended, Sasha would wait by the gate and would joyfully reunite with the trio upon seeing them.

No, life was good. Sasha wasn't really planning to try to learn what had happened in her old life after she left. Even though she was dying to know how everyone was faring in her old life without her, she really felt safe and content around Mikasa, Eren, and Armin. To be truthfully honest, she was sort of afraid to find out.

Fortunately or not, fate has it's way around these kind of things. And so Sasha and Mikasa's blissful living came to an end.

* * *

**A/N: **You might've noticed a change in still between the first chapter and this chapter. I decided to update and fix a few things in this chapter to make it bulkier and interesting to read. I want to remind everyone that the AO3 version of this is available up to Chapter 5, but it isn't the updated more better version here. I'm still going to continue to update here, just a bit slower. I'll be adding the rest of the chapters (the updated and clean version) here in a few days. A small note, this is actually a filler chapter to connect with the events soon to come, which is why it doesn't seem to lead anywhere. Rest assured, the next chapter (if you haven't read it already on AO3) is a real doozy :D

Until next time!


	3. Chapter 3 - The Kendo Competition

**A/N: **Hey, I actually found time to update this chapter, buhuehue... Anyways, I uploaded Chapter 6 on AO3 so feel free to check that out if you're not patient enough. I'm also taking the time and updating the chapters on AO3 with the newer and better ones on FanFiction dot net. So you don't have to worry much about too much differences between the two. The main reason I'm re-updating everything is because I never had a Beta for this story. However, you are free to choose which one to read.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own shiet.

**Minor Note: **_Italics _mean Sasha is talking. **-WINGS OF FREEDOM-** is the section divider

* * *

This week was the annual Kendo Competition. At certain moments, Mikasa and Eren would disappear without reason and she would have to spend the day with Armin or herself. As it turns out, the times that Mikasa and Eren were missing, they were at Kendo practice. _Usually_ Armin would have gone with them to watch, but Mikasa requested that he stayed home and took care of Sasha. For some stupid reason, dogs weren't allowed at Kendo Practice, despite being animals being allowed on school grounds (on a leash or cage however). Perhaps it was the teacher's irrational fear of dogs. She had found out one morning when Mikasa was cleaning up her Kendo gear in her room. Sasha was at first was frustrated to find out that Mikasa hasn't told her about the kendo club, but Mikasa had reasoned that she had might have felt jealous for not being able to go with her, mainly because of the fact that the dog and the girl rarely spent time apart. The dark haired girl had tried convincing her instructor to allow her dog to come, but he had respectively refused. Although annoyed at the fact that Mikasa treated her like some sort of child, Sasha had begrudgingly accepted her apology and explanation, but tried to avoid Mikasa the rest of the day. Of course she was mad, it was so _illogical _of Mikasa to treat her as if she was a _child._

After finally cornering Sasha in the evening, Mikasa told Sasha that she was allowed to watch the Kendo competition. It was going to be hosted at the School's gym. The other team was visiting this time. Overjoyed, Sasha had impulsively tackled her owner, and licked Mikasa's face until she realized what she was doing. Stopping, Sasha felt her face glow in embarrassment.

_Sorry…_Sasha whimpered apologetically, stepping off her owner. Just a tad bit embarrassed _I think my dog side took over for a moment._

"That's alright." Mikasa smiled back, wiping Sasha's slobber off of her face. "I don't mind you doing that, but a little warning would be nice."

If Sasha could blush, she bet she would have. Fortunately, as a dog, Mikasa couldn't see her cheeks practically glowing red, not that her furry cheeks could anyway. Even though her owner couldn't see her pink cheeks, Sasha felt her face burning, almost as if it was going to burn off the fur on her face. How embarrassing was it to lick someone's face as a dog? It was almost like kissing! She had "_kissed_" Mikasa! So with her tail in-between her legs, Sasha high tailed out of there, eventually deciding to hide behind the couch, where Eren was busy playing games with Armin contently watching. Armin glanced at her worriedly, but the dog ignored his question asking whats wrong. Sasha was flustered, that was what. She was a dog, behavior like that was absolutely _normal_, she _shouldn't_ be embarrassed. However, unlike normal dogs, Sasha still had her human mind. She could think and act like a regular human. Acting like this was an embarrassment, to her, and probably Mikasa.

"Agh!" Eren's loud sudden shout, startled Sasha, causing her to yelp in shock, yanking her out of her thoughts. "I almost had it that time! I'm going to kill them all! Those stupid dang Gremlins!"

"Take it easy, Eren. I'm sure you'll get it next time." His friend said, trying to calm Eren down, who was about to smash the controller on the table. "You scared Titan."

Hearing her name and Eren's rage, Sasha poked her head from behind the couch curiously, only to find Eren staring with a rather murderous look on his face. His titan green eyes pierced through Sasha's heart and suddenly the dog felt extremely vulnerable and weak. So doing what she felt best, Sasha retreated backinto the space between the couch and the wall, whining uncomfortably. After a moment, Eren's face slowly appeared at the opening, his eyes still having that rather crazed look, but he looked somewhat calmer.

"Hey Titan…" Eren coaxed slowly and Sasha instinctively growled. "Hey…um, look, I didn't mean to look at you like that…I'm not going to _kill_ you or anything. Just those gremlins."

There was something about Eren that Sasha always felt uneasy about. Every time Eren got angry, his face disturbingly oddly resembled a murderous cold-blooded killer. Well, she never saw one before, but she watched several Horror Movies to make the comparison. The way his eyes shone, it almost as if he has _really killed people_ before. Even though Sasha enjoyed finding entertainment in Eren raging during video games, when getting eye contact with him when he's angry, she could feel herself shirk back. Thank goodness Eren was a little intimidated by her too. Being a large dog had it's moments.

_Uh, no. _Sasha growled bluntly, showing her sharp canine teeth. _I think I'll stay here thank you very much._

"It's no good." She heard Eren say, a little exasperated. "She's not coming out."

"Maybe you can crawl in there and try to get her to come out." Armin suggested.

"Are you kidding me? She's going to bite my hand off!" Eren said exasperated. There was a slight pause and a series of approaching footsteps. Oh no. "Oh hey Mikasa, can you-"

A friendly face poked through the opening behind the couch. It was Mikasa alright. Sasha's uneasiness and fear was quickly replaced by shame. Since Mikasa was the only one who knew that 'Titan' was actually Sasha's reincarnation, acting this childishly was shameful. Feeling her face burn once again, Sasha retreated backwards, covering her nose with her paws. This was just not a good day for her social pride. Not that she had much anyway.

"Hey, _Titan_." Mikasa said sternly, yet a there was a kindness to her tone. "Come out will you?"

_I don't want to. _Sasha barked back, pouting. She was still kinda mad at Mikasa for keeping the secret from her and uneasy with Eren being so tedious at the moment.

"Come on, Sasha." She whispered softly, not loud enough for Armin or Eren to hear her, but loud enough for Sasha to pick up with her canine hearing. "Don't be this way."

Hearing her human name, Sasha's ears instantly perked. After a moment or two of thought, Sasha flattened her ears, giving Mikasa a look. Sighing in defeat, Sasha allowed herself to be won over by Mikasa's sweet talk and crawled back to the entrance. A gentle hand greeted her as well as a short session of being pat on the head. Leaning against, the dark-haired girl's leg, Sasha wagged her tail, enjoying the feeling of being petted. She was getting used to be a dog, it was really easy-going, other than listening to her owners there was barely any worries that she needed tending too. No homework, no studying, no school, no tests. She was a dog, someone to be played with and looked after. What a life. Looking up at Mikasa, Sasha knew that no matter what case it was, she was always going to obey the girl with the red scarf. Even if she didn't want to.

**\- WINGS OF FREEDOM - **

Mikasa and Eren had left hours earlier, to prepare for the competition that afternoon. That left Armin and Sasha alone at the apartment. Sasha obediently watched as Armin prepared a video camera, probably to record his friends for the memories, and placed it in a bag he was bringing. Armin was always the one to treasure memories. She doesn't spend much time in Armin's room, but he had a whole filled with Hard Drives filled with photos and videos telling of the past. He had almost every important moment documented. Good, that mean Sasha wouldn't forget anything else. Armin also placed a bag of dried jerky, which was probably to feed to Sasha if she couldn't sit still. Sasha could only scoff, if only Armin knew.

Sasha uneasily watched as Armin clipped on the leash to her collar. She had been told by Mikasa earlier that she was allowed to come, as long as she was on a leash. Even so, Sasha tried to argue, telling Mikasa that she was probably the most intelligent and obedient dog on the planet, maybe the whole universe, and that she won't do anything drastic. Despite agreeing Mikasa shut down all of her attempts to reason; the judges and audience didn't know she was a reincarnation of a human. And so she was wearing a leash, just for today. After so long without wearing it, now wearing a leash felt demeaning, but yet she was a dog. It was all in her head. She might as well try to get used to it.

"We're going to see Mikasa and Eren in the Junior Kendo Competition, Titan." Armin explained softly as they entered into the elevator. "Are you excited?"

_Of course. _Sasha barked a few times in reply, wagging her tail.

"Be sure to cheer them on." The blonde said, as the elevator doors open. He began walking out and Sasha followed.

_You know I will. _Sasha silently assured, tail still wagging.

It took about twenty minutes to get to school and the entrance was already bustling with people. Sasha winced, feeling intimidated by the large crowds. Crowds have never been a problem when she was human; probably because she was pretty tall for a high school girl. She towered over most of the girls in her class and a portion of the boys. She could always see over everyone's head. As a dog, she was much shorter than the crowd and a dog's eye view in a large group of people was a tad bit frightening. There was also a bout of unsettling uneasiness that seemed to overwhelm her the moment she had stepped on School Grounds. It made her nervous. It was like it was telling her that something imminently dangerous was going to happen soon. Unsure of her feelings, Sasha whined uneasily.

"It's okay, Titan." Armin said, tugging the leash, coaxing Sasha a little closer to him. He leaned over, giving Sasha a brief pat on the head. "Let's just go inside and find a seat."

_Bark._

Swallowing, Sasha followed Armin as they weaved through the crowd. Sasha felt like she was drowning in a sea of unfamiliar scents and sounds. As a dog, she could smell things much more sharply than she could as a human. Even as a human, she was quite acute in her sense of smell and hearing, Connie deemed it a super power of hers, especially when it came to food. It was a great plus when it came to hunting, which Sasha once did on her spare time. Now though, it was overwhelming and it was almost a relief to finally make it to the gym. The gym was quite large, so the scents weren't as strong as they were in the crowd, making Sasha feel a little more relaxed. It wasn't that dense and she could easily ignore the unwanted smells. There were seats in the left and right side, one side titled home, the other side titled Visitor. Her blonde owner led the way to the Home side, where they took the front seat so Sasha could sit on the floor. Sitting on the bleachers could be troublesome for a dog. The brown canine peered over at the visitor's side, wondering which school they were up against.

_Trost District High. _Sasha read aloud in her mind. It took a moment or two for Sasha to realize. Her heart jumped in joy.

Trost District High was Sasha's high school. _Her high school. Can you believe it? _What a giant coincidence for her to watch a competition between Mikasa's school and _her _school. Sasha felt the blood pumped in her ears, her heart beat quickening as she tried to search for familiar faces in the crowd. Her friends! Where are her friends!? She whipped her head back and forth, frantically searching, searching. She didn't look for anyone in particular. Just anyone-anyone she could recognize, please…She scanned the crowd over and over. Checking, Double Checking, Triple checking…

Connie wasn't here, Sasha decided disappointingly. Now that she thought about it, he and Sasha weren't very interested in Kendo and had only attended one Kendo match when they were in middle school to get some service hours. To be honest, she and Connie almost fell asleep before the match even started. There was nothing particularly entertaining about two individuals swinging a bamboo stick at the slowest pace in the world. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a boy with a rather long face entering the gym in a headless kendo suit.

_Jean! _Sasha barked happily, startling Armin who was taking out the video camera. She hopped on for legs and wagging her tail. She could barely contain her excitement and happiness. What are the odds that you see your old friends after your death? The happiness only grew when Jean was joined by a dark-haired freckled boy. _Marco! It's Jean and Marco! Guys! I'm over here! It's me! Sasha!_

Sasha yapped happily, trying to run towards them, earning a sharp tug from her leash. She was snapped back to reality. Armin, who looked at her sternly, tightly grasped her leash. Sasha slowly turned around to face the blonde, who had a rather disappointed look on his face. She sheepishly lowered her head.

"Titan, lie down." He ordered firmly. Sasha flattened her ears, looking hesitantly back at Armin and back at Jean and Marco. "I know you're excited, but please try to stay still. You don't want Mikasa to get into trouble won't you? She did a lot for you to get her."

_B-But..but…I know…_Sasha sighed, sinking onto her belly, resting her muzzle on her nose. She longingly watched Jean and Marco, who were having a conversation she couldn't really make out from this far away, even with her ears. There was just too much noise and distance. She whined, wishing they would just recognize her and talk with her again. It's been so long. _It's just that…I miss them._

Seeing how the dog seemed depressed, Armin's eyes softened. He reached into his bag and rummaged around a bit. He took out a piece of Jerky, which he offered to her with one hand. Sasha curiously looked at the blonde and then noticed the jerky in his hand.

"Here, eat this." Armin smiled comfortingly, making Sasha feel a little better. "Maybe it'll calm you down."

_Thank you. _Sasha gently took the jerky between her teeth, careful not to bite the blonde's hand by accident. She placed the jerky between her paws, sniffing it disinterestedly. She quickly snapped it up, trying to savor the taste of the dried meat on her tongue. Usually, she would really enjoy the tender feel of jerky in her mouth, but right now, she was too upset to enjoy the meat properly. Instead, she put her head on her paws and silently watched her two friends from afar. Eventually they disappeared from view, probably to prepare for the competition. The loud booming voice nearly made her jump out of her skin.

"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the Junior Kendo Competition between Wall Maria High and Trost District High" A loud voice boomed. Sasha perked her ears towards the loudspeaker that was located near the corners of the gym. It was way too loud in her opinion, but she could handle it. The crowd instantly quieted down. "Thank you all for coming! And so without further ado, let the competition begin! For the first round, we have Eren Jaegar representing Wall Maria High and Jean Kirschstein from Trost District High. Contestants, please step up the platform."

_Interesting..._Sasha thought to herself.

Sasha watched curiously as two familiar figures walked onto the platform. The person on the right side of the platform was Eren, who donned his murderous look, which was clearly visible through the protective mesh of the Kendo mask. On the left was Jean, who seemed to have copied Eren's look and was baring his teeth at him. Jean was a little closer to her now and she could see him slightly clearer. Sasha wagged her tail, hoping that Jean would notice her. He didn't of course; Sasha didn't know what to expect, but she still felt disappointed. Even if he did look at her, he probably wouldn't recognize her at all. She felt her heart sink in sadness, but wouldn't let herself look away. She was still curious of the outcome.

Eren and Jean both stiffly bowed, both struggling to suppress their snarky remarks, Sasha guessed. The dog wondered if there was an incredible history of rivalry between them that she didn't know about. It wouldn't be surprising if they did, Jean never talked much about his life to her, let alone what competition he joined on his spare time. Perhaps as a human, Sasha had suspected that Jean joined competitions and had tried to ask Marco about it. She couldn't really remember clearly of her life as a human. Maybe he lost a lot and was too embarrassed to tell her, though Sasha wouldn't really be surprised. In fact, she wouldn't even be surprised if she had possibly run into Mikasa, Eren, and Armin when she was a human and had forgotten about it. She pushed her thoughts away to concentrate on the match.

"Start!"

Both Eren and Jean rushed at each other, yelling at the top of their lungs. Sasha hasn't seen Eren's strength and fury at the same time, so this was a frightening, yet very interesting experience. Sasha noted that even though the two seemed like they were really at it, they bore similar expressions. Even though they seemed like enemies, they had quite a lot alike. In the past, she and Jean would argue with each other, one time challenging each other to a cooking competition, which she had unfortunately lost due to her overconfidence. Even so, Jean had been a good sport about it and never teased her about it like she expected him too. The dog silently wondered what Jean thought of her death. Did he miss her?

"_Men_!" Eren shouted, slamming his bamboo stick onto Jean's head.

A whistle pierced through the tension and both fighters abruptly stopped, freezing in their position, breathing heavily. Sasha chuckled, remembering that during Kendo, a person must shout the place they were going to hit, before they actually hit the spot. Sasha and Connie thought it was a stupid rule. What was the point of fighting if you were going to tell the enemy what you were going to do? They could have the chance to block and therefore make the fight useless. Even so, Sasha couldn't help, but feel happy for Eren, even though she felt a twinge of pity for Jean. If he had found that out, he would have probably snapped at her.

"Eren Jeagar has won by first scored two points! He will proceed to the next round!" the announcer boomed.

"Yay Eren won!" Armin cheered, smiling and laughing. He looked at Sasha. "All that practice finally paid off!" Sasha sniffed indignantly. Too bad she never saw those practices.

On the other hand, Jean looked like he was going to charge at Eren and knock him over, but instead he bowed and briskly left the platform, leaving Eren to gloat in his victory. Sasha couldn't help, but feel sorry Jean as he exited the gym, followed by Marco, who had a worried expression on his face. At least she could count on Marco to cheer him up right? But now there was no chance for her to catch up with them. Even as a dog. Feeling depressed, Sasha decided to focus her attention in the competition.

As the match droned on, Sasha couldn't really find herself paying much attention to the rest Kendo fighters, especially when most of the fighters are people she didn't know. Instead, she managed to pick out more of her old friends. Well, maybe 'friend' is not the right word. She had spotted Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt, the infamous senior trio that always seemed to be together. Sasha wasn't very close with any of them, although she knew Reiner slightly better because he was Connie's role model. Annie had bullied her a bit about that one time she was caught eating a steamed potato in class, but Bertholdt had made sure that it never really got out of hand, so Sasha wasn't the least bit bothered by it. It was sort of painful to see her old life function without her. Perhaps she hasn't gotten over her death after all.

Finally the moment that she waited for came up.

"For the next round, we have Mikasa Ackerman from World Maria High and Annie Leonhardt from Trost District High. Contestants, please go to the platform!"

Sasha eyed her owner as she made a grand appearance. The crowd in the Home side cheered and Sasha couldn't help, but bark along and wag her tail. Sasha could have sworn that Mikasa glanced at her and smiled as she was on the platform. On the other side, the crowd was cheering for Annie. Sasha had never seen Mikasa fight before, so she really didn't know what to expect from her. Annie on the other hand, was probably the most proficient fighter Sasha has ever known. Even though she might be a little short for her age, she could practically demolish people three times her size. She was one of those 'girls'. Sasha wondered if Mikasa was the same because of the fact that her personality slightly similar to that of Annie's.

The dog observed Annie, who was holding her kendo sword with great confidence, although seemed ever so slightly lop-sided in her opinion. Then a sharp feeling stabbed her in the back of her mind and she became alert. Feeling her heart quicken, she stood up on all four paws again, tugging a bit on the leash that Armin was holding back.

"Titan, down!" Armin scolded, pulling the leash. Sasha felt herself gag a little as her collar tightened around her neck, but she refused to be pulled back. "Sit!"

Glaring at Annie's kendo sword, Sasha felt a growl creep into her throat. Her danger meter was going off the charts. Something was _wrong_, there had to be. Something was warning her. She took a closer look and noticed that the way Annie was holding her sword; it was a bit off, disproportionate. There was no reason for Annie to be holding it _that _way, right? Annie was strong; there was no way she would be holding a _light_ bamboo stick like that, right? Sasha uneasily began to pull against her leash, growling louder, catching the attention of the people sitting nearby.

"Mommy, what's wrong with the doggie?" Sasha heard a child ask from somewhere behind her.

"I don't know, sweetie." The voice answered, a bit nervous. "Maybe it's just excited?"

Sasha watched nervously as Mikasa and Annie bowed, before giving each other the mother of all death glares. Mikasa could be scary when she wanted to be. Again, the dog took a step forward, earning a sharp tug from Armin.

"Titan!" Armin commanded, a little weakly. He sharply tugged the leash, making Sasha stagger a bit, but she pulled forward, holding back coughs of the collar tightening around her throat. "Down, girl!"

The dark haired girl didn't seem to notice the commotion her dog was making on her side. Instead, she seemed completely absorbed at eyeing her opponent down. Mikasa and Annie got into position, pointing the kendo swords at each other, Annie still a tiny bit skewed to the left. Sasha eyes widened, baring his teeth at the sword Annie was carrying.

"Start!"

Deciding it was now or never, with all her might, Sasha wretched free from Armin, who shouted in shock, the leash tearing out of his hands. She bolted towards the platform. Shouts of surprise and fear rippled through the crowd as she gracefully leaped onto the platform. With an animalistic lunge, Sasha snagged the blonde girl's kendo sword in her mouth.

**\- WINGS OF FREEDOM -**

Mikasa took a step back when she saw a blur of brown fur whirl in front of her and tackled her opponent's kendo sword. It took her a moment to register what she was seeing in front of her. Sasha? What was she doing here? Why did she attack Annie?

"Sa–er …Titan?" Mikasa lowered her sword in confusion. "What are you doing?"

In response, Sasha began to trying to tug Annie's kendo sword out of the girl's grasp. Feeling irritated, the blonde tried to rip the sword out the dog's mouth, but the canine remained steadfast. Sasha met Annie's ferocious and angry eyes. Mikasa watched as the dog pitifully began to tremble, but had bravely hung on. Shouts of confusion and terror echoed throughout the gym.

"Titan!" Armin was running towards the platform. "Come back!"

"This is your dog?" Annie said to Mikasa, locking her gaze with Sasha. The dog flattened her ears growling menacingly. "Make her let go. _Now._"

_I'm not letting this go, Mikasa. _The dark haired girl heard Sasha's stern growl in her head.

"Someone get that dog off the stage!" Mikasa heard someone scream out. "It's going to hurt the contestants!"

"No, she won't!" Armin shouted back, a little annoyed, but confused, shocked, and perhaps afraid. He turned to Sasha. "Titan, come here, girl! It's alright, it's just a competition! It's not real!"

"Titan, let go." Mikasa scolded her again, fear constricting her voice. Then in a firmer tone again. "Titan, let go."

_I can't. Not. _Sasha's voice echoed, drenched in fear and panic. _I won't!_

With that heartbreaking shout, Mikasa watched as Sasha, with renewed energy, painstakingly pulled backwards, falling back in the process. She staggered back onto her feet, the bamboo in her mouth as she stared tiredly at what Annie had in her hand. The blonde watched with terror as noticed that the bamboo kendo sword in her hand had been replaced by a steel sword, a real sharp sword, one that can actually _kill _people. Upon the realization, Annie retreated her hand back, as if the sword was poisonous, making it clatter noisily on the platform. Shouts of gasps echoed through all so sudden quiet gym.

"…T-t-that's a real sword…" Armin said under his breath. He took a step back and nervously began to edge closer to Mikasa. "Mikasa, you could've...you could've..."

"What's going on?" Annie demanded, turning to look at the referee with a deathly stare. "Why is there a real sword inside my kendo sword? It's supposed to be all bamboo!"

The referee just stared in shock and awe at the now revealed real sword. Unsure what to do, he blew the whistle and signaled for the match to be called off.

"The dog saved Mikasa!" a person shouted from the home side. It sounded like the mother of the child earlier.

Initiated by the random shout, the gym erupted into disarray as everyone had begun shouting nonsensically. Mikasa noticed Eren coming to Armin's side, who was on his knees, hyperventilating in fear. On the other hand, Reiner and Bertholdt cautiously approached Annie who was still questioning the referee, who was scared out of his wits by the angry girl. She kept asking why there was a real sword hidden inside her kendo sword. Unfortunately, the poor referee didn't know and did his best to try calm the angry girl down.

"Mikasa?" The girl didn't turn to look at Eren who was worriedly looking up at her from off the platform. "Are you okay? Mikasa?"

Eren's voice didn't reach her. Instead, Mikasa looked at Sasha, eyes widening. The dog was still snarling at the sword, protectively standing in front of her. She was panting terribly and she could see a few drops of blood on the ground below where Sasha's muzzle was. The dark haired girl dropped her own kendo sword as dread seemed to overflow her. Sasha flinched at the sound of the kendo sword being dropped behind her, but the canine didn't move from her position in front of her. Sasha was still bent on protecting her. Mikasa felt the sting of tears in the corner of her eyes as the dread transformed into panic and guilt. It didn't come from the fact that she could of died today by Annie's hand. The panic and guilt came from the fact that she could of died today by Annie's hand, but Sasha saved her again. _Again._

* * *

**A/N: **And that's it for this chapter |D How mysterious huh? I don't know where I got the idea for the Kendo Competition, but I'm sure it came from somewhere. To be honest, I wrote this chapter almost a year ago so that might be the reason I don't really remember. Anyways, if you want to know what happens next, you can wait for me to update another chapter here or hop on over to AO3, where the next three chapters are already uploaded. Hopefully, I'll be to revise the next three chapters for FanFiction dot net soon :)

Until next time!


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